Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a little time. I thank the committee members for their questions and kind words.

I will take the comments in the order that committee members have spoken. There is some overlap although not a great deal. Senator Craughwell asked questions about the process and our priorities.

The process of the divorce, so to speak, has four key pillars. We must be satisfied at this stage that issues pertaining to Ireland, such as the common travel area and the peace process, are in pillar one and will be dealt with at an early stage. We will continue to work with the Commission to present solutions for concerns which are unique to Ireland. It is true to say there is an appetite for us to present solutions and work is ongoing in so far as it can be, because we still have not seen the absolute nature of what the UK will present within the coming four weeks. Work is being carried out at a very detailed level in many Departments with respect to the movement of people. The position of everybody, including the Taoiseach, committee members and, to be fair, the British, is we do not want any impediment to the free movement of people around the island. This is not something we consider possible to dilute in any way. It is of extreme importance to us with regard to both sides of the Border and east and west. There is, as committee members have heard, good understanding throughout the EU of the circumstances unique to us.

The problem we have at citizen level has been mentioned. It is 100% correct to state we must communicate better what we do as politicians. We must show the work we do around the table, irrespective of where we are on the political spectrum, is about the citizen. Something I found most frustrating about the debate and referendum in the UK was continuous reference to the European Union and its institutions in the third person. Every decision taken by the European Union had British Ministers and officials at the table, but somehow everything was everybody else's fault. We must ensure all politicians take more account themselves. I am a strong supporter of the European Union but it would be very silly and simplistic to suggest it is perfect. Many people feel it can be improved, but we must try to improve it from the inside out, particularly as a small country.

We will work to support categories and sectors which may be specifically disadvantaged. The issue of ports and new routes was mentioned. To follow on from other questions, it is vital we build new alliances and look to diversify into new markets, irrespective of how severe the challenges will be with respect to trade, and this work is ongoing.

To respond to Deputy Crowe on what the committee can do, it should be robust when senior people are in the country. The committee should get them to come before it, whether they are Commissioners, politicians or members of committees of other parliaments, and the committee should not just continue to go to Europe at intervals. Something we should focus on is going before parliamentary committees. It is of value to meet opposite numbers, Ministers and members of Government. We did this in Bucharest and Greece several weeks ago and will do so in Hungary and Austria next week. Through this we get a sense of where cross-party support exists on the issues we bring and our unique circumstances. We can also pick up on the objectives of other countries. Committee members could speak to Commissioners and explain that as Independent members or as members of Sinn Féin or Fianna Fáil, they agree with what the Government is doing. Equally, there would be nothing wrong with committee members stating that in particular areas the Government could do better or that they disagree with policy. We should embrace this. The committee will have a very important role given the Ministers with responsibility for Europe will meet on a monthly basis to engage in the negotiations. The committee will probably be the conduit of the information that will flow between the Ministers.

The issue of Turkey and migration is absolutely vital. There are many concerns about the deal done with Turkey. The €3 billion is going directly to support the refugees. We must continue to work with countries of origin and countries of transit and try to continue to remove the reasons people leave.

I could not agree more with regard to what must be the horrendous frustration of Ibrahim Halawa and his family. We have engaged the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and the Ceann Comhairle's office and cross-party groups have travelled out. We have robustly stated we want him to be released and we will continue our work on this. However, Egypt is a sovereign independent nation with a court process that is what it is.

I have met Michel Barnier on a number of occasions, the Taoiseach will meet him next week and the committee has also met him. We will repeatedly engage with Mr. Barnier, who is well abreast through work he did previously as a Commissioner, on issues pertaining to regional policy and the Border region in Northern Ireland. Very strong importance will be given to the deliberations on the unique elements that exist between parts of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, with respect to the common travel area. Where we can present solutions to our partners, show they will not impact on them and get their support we should achieve success.

We are on rounds three and four with many countries with respect to visits, contacts and meetings. The messages pertaining to our country cannot be said too often, particularly given that negotiations on common travel will take place in the first section. We share concerns about the trade issues with many countries. Many countries to the east of the United Kingdom have very similar concerns about exporting food into the large British market and we are working to build alliances. We can get details on a programme of work involving me, the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, the Taoiseach and other Ministers, particularly those whose remits are most relevant.

Deputy Haughey spoke about the Rome Summit and getting back to concrete deliverable measures. He also mentioned the digital Single Market. Roaming charges have been removed and we have data portability, VAT simplification and copyright improvements. They benefit all the European Union, but they really benefit small, peripheral and open economies such as ours.

That is why, at the formation of this Government, I was asked to play a co-ordinating role in the digital Single Market. While everyone will benefit, the more remote, smaller and more open an economy is, the more such measures will help.

I like the broad range of topics covered at this committee, and Europe is a very broad church. We almost always agree with Senator Leyden, but I do not think a Brexit Minister would work and Deputy Durkan gave a couple of reasons. First, we have a one-stop-shop in the Department of the Taoiseach which has authority when corresponding with Departments such as Finance or Justice and Equality. There is extra prestige and urgency when a request comes from the mother Department, as it were. If we had that somewhere else, it might dilute the whole-of-Government approach. Senior officials in the Department of the Taoiseach have been involved in our Presidencies and they co-ordinate whole-of-Government approaches to European Council meetings.

The second reason is more practical. Agriculture and fisheries Ministers frequently meet in Brussels to discuss detailed aspects of fisheries policy, quotas, physical maps, jurisdiction and law. Transport Ministers might be meeting on the same day to discuss ports or something else, but the meeting might take place in Luxembourg. At the moment we are talking about everything together, such as the movement of goods and people, the common travel areas and institutions and other bodies, but negotiations on Brexit will be broken into chunks, such as agricultural issues, trade issues etc. We will need this to be at the very top of the agenda of relevant Ministers. We do not believe that abdicating responsibility from line Ministers to anybody else would be in our best interests. I am not fully sure where the UK Brexit Minister will sit. Boris Johnson is Foreign Secretary but its finance Minister and others will also be present. We are not sure if the Brexit Minister will have a co-ordinating role back in the UK or whether it will be Theresa May. It will be a full-time function of mine and my team but that will also apply to many others.

There was a question on Border posts. We need to be clear that this was a decision of the United Kingdom. The UK has decided to leave but we are not leaving. We will not be the ones putting any customs posts up on this island. We do not want them and will not initiate them. We will be working hard to minimise the effect on our people and we will not do this work or come up with any solutions that work against our national interests. We respect the UK's decision but we fundamentally think it was the wrong thing to do. The UK has said it does not want to be in the Single Market but we want to be in the Single Market. The UK has not yet told us how they propose to square the circle with respect to the customs union.